Valentines Decorating Fun

I've been remembering family fun times I've had over the years, as I dragged out all of the Valentines pink bins a few days ago. I have the old house all decked out  for the big day. It is always fun for me to get out the pink bins of February and get reaquainted with my sweet hearts and cupids and roses and pink junk. And I think about times we've shared as a family, and all the love I have in my heart for all of the people in my life. And I think of how lucky I am. Remembering Family Fun Times; One of my many happy places spent with my kiddos caught in pictures. Here is little Danny, tubing in the mountains of California, probably near Big Bear.

Here in Utah in the dead of winter we usually need a little perk this time of year. Surprisingly though, this winter has been so mild and beautiful. I got on the freeway today at 8:00 in the morning and the sun was shining so brightly I couldn't even believe it was February. It is like spring weather here, and I am LOVING IT!
I love you, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.

I found a few fun Valentines things to get my little grandkids, who live all over the place.  I have 6 of them now. And I went to the post office to send my Chicago peeps some little doo dads. I just HAD to get my son Devin these little Simpsons characters I found at the dollar store. He was such a funny Simpsons nut when he was in middle school. He could repeat literal lines of some of the shows, word for word. He had a Simpsons book we got him one Christmas or birthday. And he pored over that thing for months!!  So cute. He'll get a chuckle.
The Simpsons were a lot of fun to watch back in the day.
Remembering Family Fun Times; making Valentines sugar cookies is always a favorite of mine.


I love making Valentines Sugar Cookies with my family.[/caption] I got my little granddaughters Disney Princess and Minnie Mouse pencil sharpeners. I know they all love those in school cuz I see kids with them in my classroom. The teachers hate them because they open unexpectedly and the shavings all land on the floor. But I know the kids LOVE sharpening their own pencils at their desks.
So too bad, teachers! haha. Minnie Mouse and Disney Princess Pencil Sharpeners for my 4, 6, and 7 year old granddaughters.

 I have so many memories of fun times with all of my children through the years. In my mind's eye I can see them all laying on our giant trampoline (before trampolines were popular we had one, the only one in our neighborhood in fact). I had sent away for it from San Francisco, some trampoline company. We had so much fun on that thing. The boys would put the hose on it in the summer and a swimming pool under it and jump really hard so they landed down in the pool, and the hose would splash all over them as they jumped, letting go a spray of cool water all over anybody nearby. I have a picture of our whole family lying in a circle of heads in the middle of that trampoline. I think about how much fun we had on that thing for years.

 
Remembering Family Fun Times this Valentines Day.

I've got my table and buffet decorations all up.  I remember taking them so many times to a place called Mother's Beach near Seal Beach, California. There was a playground at the top of the beach, and there was, well, a beach with waves and water that was safe inside a kind of manmade little jetty. The kids LOVED that beach, and we spent many happy hours there eating our picnics in the afternoons after school or in the summertime. I'd bring a stack of magazines to read lazily in the sun. And every 15 minutes or so I'd have to chase down the beach to collect my 2 year old, who had a tendency to run away in a crowd. It was fun. And I have happy memories of going to the beach with my kids.
Remembering Family Fun Times.....Here's Buffet Decorations for Valentines Day.

 Sometimes we'd go to Bolsa Chica beach and make a fire in one of the firepits at dinnertime with friends. We'd roast corn in a big pot and cut up a watermelon and do hot dogs on a stick. Fun times at the beach. Newport Dunes was one nice place we did the dreaded camping. You can see from the picture below, that I probably liked this place better than a rustic woods. But I still remember my baby, at the time, cried all night long and we were whispering feverishly trying new ideas to try to keep him quiet. We were with a group of neighbors and friends we didn't want to keep awake. But I still remember all the kids having a blast, sleep or no sleep. Kids are like that. Remembering Family Fun Times. Newport Dunes private manmade beach. We camped there I think 3 times over the years. A super fun resort!

 I remember going camping at Yellowstone and at Newport Dunes and the Redwoods and even in Utah. I absolutely hated camping. I still do to this day. But the kids always loved it. And my hubs was such a great camper. He always made everything fun. And he would do all the work. I have never put a tent up by myself in all these years. I AM a bad camper. I admit that. :D
Hiking and Touring a few summers ago seeing lizards, mountain goats and various flora and fauna.

.
Marisa and Meg finding a squirrel or a chipmunk or something foresty.

 I describe my worst camping experience at Yosemite. We ended up in a 12 x 12  "parking lot"  campground on Memorial Day with campfire smoke EVERYWHERE so you couldn't even breath, and lots of beer drinking campers surrounding us, and my 4 kids covered in mud running and riding their bikes around with our friends who had 7 kids. That was Yosemite. All I remember from that trip were yellowjackets everywhere and trying to keep my baby clean who just wanted to crawl around and get dirty. And all the people everywhere you turn. Yuck.

Yosemite and the Redwoods and Sequoia, we went to all of these, and I didn't love camping at any of them! lol. But the kids did.

 I'm thinking of the fun trips we went on where I actually had a blast. Probably everybody's favorite was Hawaii. I'd beg, borrow and steal money to do that again with my family. We had 2 teenagers when we went and 1 middle schooler and 1 in elementary. Remembering Family Fun Times; Hawaii with the family was probably everybody's favorite vacation spot. It was relaxing to me too. I loved it. But not as much as the hubs. He still talks about surfing Hawaii someday.
The Dole Pineapple Plantation maze and tasting the  Dole Pineapple Whips. Yum. That was a lot of fun.

The plane flight was fun too I remember the boys watching the in flight movie thinking it was cool.[/caption] We had a great time seeing all the sights like the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Dole plantation where we went in the maze and had pineapple whips. And then the blowhole on Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor, and eating crab and lobster for dinner. But the best part for me was everybody buying surf shirts and pooka shell necklaces at a little seaside tourist shop on the beach. That was a fun memory.
Pearl Harbor tour and the U.S.S. memorial there.

 Another fun trip we had was going to see Niagara Falls in New York, and going to the Mormon Pageant and seeing Donny Osmond acting as Samuel the Lamanite. After the spectacular outdoor show he was signing pictures of Jesus with his autograph. My middle schooler asked why he was doing that. We all just laughed. Why was he doing that? It was really funny. We drove down the east coast stopping in Philadelphia to see American history sights there. Then on to New York City to see the Statue of Liberty and the Twin Towers (before September 11th happened) and some museums, and the Empire State Building of course. Maids of the Mist at Niagara Falls getting sprayed and screaming at the top of our lungs is one of my all time family favorite moments, though.

Remembering Family Fun Times. Maids of the Mist boat tour on Niagara Falls.

Everybody wears a rain poncho because you get soaked with water coming at you on 3 sides.[/caption] On that same trip we then down to Washington D.C. and saw the Smithsonian and all the sights there, including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. The kids all went into the gift shops and got little momentos. I still have giant silver and copper coins I got for use in my classroom. We still have metal Statues of Liberty we got from New York, and Liberty Bell bronze pencil sharpeners, and little mini canons we got in Philly after we watched a historical reenactment in Philly. They are still hanging around here somewhere.

Statue of Liberty trinket.

Being there was a lot of fun. I'd go back anytime.
Gallery Wall of fun memories , and with glittery red hearts and greenery in the cones.

When it is a holiday or a Super Bowl or New Year's Eve, we get invited to parties by good friends we have. But the funny thing is, I always just want to hang out with my kids. We joke about going on their vacations with them, like tag-a-longs, Like Everybody Loves Raymond, buying the house next door to them. haha. Wouldn't that be SO FUN! not really. I know what you are thinking.
Ball of Roses hanging on the great room door for Valentines Day.

 We never know if they are serious when they invite us on their vacations. We've been invited to Disneyland from each one of  our kids. But we've never gone.....yet. John imitates us going along on the cruise with my daughter's family and her husband's brother's family, when they invited us. He uses his geek, nasaly voice and says "Hi guys! Here we ARE! Your sister-in-laws PAAAAREEEENTS!!" We both just chortle and roll our eyes. How bad would THAT be? But I would love to tag-a-long secretly. And someday I actually will. geek that I am.....


Kitchen Buffet covered in Valentines junk.

One time recently I dragged them all along with me on my trip to Lake Powell for the first time. All my kids had been there. And my hubs had gone multiple times with the boy scouts. I wanted to go. So we went to Zions and Lake Powell and I bought tickets for everybody to go see Aladdin at Tuacahn Outdoor theater in St. George. We had a really fun time seeing and hiking to Rainbow bridge, going to the Dam tour, and eating out every night. I would do that again, anytime. Someday, maybe in a houseboat. But for now, it was fun to stay in a hotel and swim in the pool.


Cliff jumping and swimming at Powell. We found our own little private pool.

Remembering Family Fun Times; Rainbow Bridge hike was fun too. Hot, but fun

. Jeff and Josie at Zions.


Touring through Zions National Park.


The whole family. Remembering family fun times this Valentines Day.

Devin and Caitlin at Zions.


Boating on Lake Powell.

 Lake Powell was probably one of my most recent favorite vacations spots I have loved going. It is a magnificent place full of beauty that just mesmerizes you. And going through Zions National Park on the way to Lake Powell is the way to go. You get two great places in one easy trip. I want to go again soon. This summer Tuacahn has Beauty and the Beast playing. The girls would love it.


Tuacahn Outdoor Theater in St. George to see Aladdin.


Tuacahn's Aladdin with real live camels was one of Tuacahn's  best shows ever.

Anyhoo, as I think of all the people and places I've loved this Valentines Day, the kiddos and the grandkids, my hubs and 4 kids, fill my heart with love and happy memories.

I wish them all the happiest of Valentines Days!  

In my life, I love you MORE.

Trader Joe's Cookie Butter

My friend Kim, a fellow kindergarten teacher, came over the other day and brought me a treat. It is my new favorite obsession! It is Trader Joe's Cookie Butter. And it is fabulous!

It is kind of like peanut butter in consistency, but it tastes like a mild gingerbread. It is great for dipping fat pretzels into, or crackers. She brought over a bag of both, and a green apple. It is great on all three!

Trader Joe's Cookie Butter. It is SO DIVINE! 

But the best part of all is the cookie butter cookies! Oh my! They are so delicious. Check them out HERE. They are better than Oreo cookies! They are my new fav thing. I'm crushing on this Trader Joe's Cookie Butter. I have heard it also comes in other flavors, too.

I think I'm in love with my new obsession! This is bad. It is gonna be really bad for me, the overweight foodie. Dang that cookie butter. 

There is also Trader Joe's Cookie Butter Cheesecake! OMGosh. Where have I been?

 And guess what Trader Joe's 2nd most popular item sold is? Yeah, you got it. Cookie Butter. I'm going to have to go try them all, I think!

Love Yourself More this Valentines Day

 Take this test  Strong Life Test

 I decided to join the book club in my neighborhood. I tried once before but I didn't like the books they all chose to read. I'm not a Jane Austin fan like everybody else.  I think her books are boring and too provincial for my taste. I like to read biographies and non-fiction more than any other genre anyway.  So I thought it was interesting that this non-fiction book I'm reading now,  had a Strength Finder test in chapter 7. I love taking these kinds of tests to show my strongest traits.

I love the song "TRY" song  by Colbie Caillat HERE . 

So it was a happy surprise to find out my two top strengths are CREATOR and TEACHER. Go figure. And the quiz said I probably mostly read non-fiction and that whether I write, draw, paint, sing, make presentations, or bake,  I am drawn toward making things and creating things. Maybe this is why I have 5 different blogs. This hit the nail squarely on the head for me. Take the test above. It is fun!

We need to love ourselves more and be less hard on us! 

I'm finishing the book Find Your Strongest Life this 3 day weekend. It says since I'm creative, I should walk around with a notebook in my hands,  to jot down my creative ideas. haha. I actually already do that in some shape or form. I talk to Siri, I write stuff down in my blog, and I take notes. lol.

Women tend to be less happy as they age according to statistics. And statistics don't lie. 

The book talks about how when they did recent research on Women,  and their descriptions of how happy they are in life, the bar graph had a downward trend as women got older! What the heck! But, it ran totally the opposite for men, as they have an upward swing as they get older. This is intriguing to me and a little upsetting too!

Why do we always feel like we are not good enough? We ARE! 

I wondered why, in this day and age, with so many choices and so much freedom and economic ability we as women have,  why would our feelings of contentment be lessened? It doesn't really make sense.

But, as the book details, it has something to do with all the myriads of choice women DO have, and the judgements we make of ourselves, and the judgement we feel from others,  and then there is always the guilt we feel. We do that to ourselves a lot as women. Men don't feel as much guilt, nor do they feel so judged, like women do. That is a big part of it, according to the research the authors did.

We need to love ourselves more....and guilt ourselves LESS! 

I've decided this year to not feel guilty anymore. And to apologize more and faster. So I don't feel guilty. lol. Seriously though, I remember when my son Danny died in a car accident. I felt guilty for letting him drive to school that day when he woke up late and was going to be late. I had a premonition to just let him sleep in instead of waking him. Who knows why I wouldn't wake him up though. But I felt that premonition. It was like a sixth sense. So I felt guilty.

I felt guilty looking at his math packets left on the kitchen table that  he was trying to finish for credits that he needed to graduate. I felt guilty that he only reached Life Scout as I looked at all the merit badges he had earned,  trying to reach his Eagle Scout.  He had always hated scouting though. I pushed him just to get him to achieve life scout! So why feel guilt? Why do we do these things to ourselves? Feeling guilty after the fact is just silly. It was just sad. Especially on top of every other emotion I was feeling at the time.  But that is what we do. We are SO hard on ourselves!

Every year I have my classroom kids write about what they love about themselves at Valentines time. We need to love ourselves more! 

 I'm not feeling guilty anymore for my messiness, my creativeness, (which causes my messiness) and my bluntness. It is the person I am. Why do women always over-guilt themselves? That is why we probably have less happiness as we get older as a whole. Although I don't think I personally am less happy. We do have so many duties as women. I think more so than my mother's generation had. She had the card club and the coffee klatch,  and didn't work outside the home. In my generation, our work is never done,  We have a lot more of it, and we make it seem like what work we do is never done well enough! We need to stop doing that. We are enough!

Don't let the storms of life color your world. Don't try so hard. 

I listened to this song on the radio called "Try" yesterday morning on the way to work. It is a great song by

Colbie Caillat

 TRY is all about this stuff.

"You don't have to try, try, try"....she sings over and over again. "You just have to "Get up, get up" and "When you're all alone do you like YOU?  You don't have to change a single thing, you don't have to bend until you break, you don't have try so hard". 

She knows the heart of a woman. We think we have to be everything to everybody and be perfect, and it just isn't so. We need to relax a little more and be maybe a little more tuned in to our own wants and desires. I know for me just going shopping with a $20.00 bill sometimes makes a bad day better. (I call it retail therapy with a little chuckle lol) Chocolate always helps too. And maybe going to get a favorite movie dvd and watching it up in my bedroom with some popcorn. Sometimes just going to a bookstore or the library and getting some books helps refresh my world view. Whatever it is, that time spent alone, helps me feel better about life, if I am getting the guilts or feeling overwhelmed, or just not very happy.

We need to give ourselves days off like that once in awhile. Especially if we are in the young mother stage, where you get used up and feel unappreciated a lot. My those clean toilets don't really ever sing your praises now do they? No they don't unfortunately!

Notice more of the delightful things in life that you miss everyday. This balloon launch was just down the street one summer day. 

So take some time to take a leisurely bath, take some ME time, and find out why you feel guilty sometimes, or figure out a fun thing you can look forward to and set it up on your calendar.

We went to a party the other night and a counselor friend of mine was telling everybody research he'd read on happiness. He said there were basically 3 things we need to be happy. And it was 1) feel passion about the work you do 2) feel passion about something coming up that you look forward to (plan fun things) and 3) give back in some way (give service to others).


Those were the 3 things researchers have come up with. And they make sense. If you are unbalanced in any of those 3 you feel low. Some people give too much service and they get drained. Some people hate their work and don't want to get up in the morning. Some people never plan anything fun and never have new experiences to look forward to. It has to be a balance of the three.

Remember to give back or give service to others once in awhile. That always fills my bucket back up.  Unless my bucket is empty. It is a fine line, that giving to yourself before you can give it away to others. 

So I am taking away from that that I need to appreciate myself and my work that I do. And I need to plan more fun stuff. (I already do that though, don't I, maybe too much! ) I think they need to add 1 more thing to the list. Don't put guilt trips on yourself for things that you are not all that great at, but appreciate your gifts instead.

 Don't beat yourself up about things that are not perfect in your life. "You don't have to try, try, try". It is a losing battle this guilt thing we do to ourselves. Accept your weaknesses and just forget about it. Make your strengths the thing you feel good about.

Nobody is good at everything. Nobody is perfect. Nobody is always put together. And nobody's kids are perfect or good at everything either. We don't lead lives of perfection and we shouldn't be seeking after it I don't believe. I think an escape to the cabin and skipping church once in awhile does me good. And although I feel guilty just saying that, I'm going to overlook it, and smile, remembering the good times we had there.

Find things that you love and make more of your focus on those things this year. Find the joy along the way more. 

Take the test above. And focus on something about yourself that is a strength or that you love about yourself, a talent, a gift. And appreciate what you are good at. Go out and be creative, be a leader, do your craft, or be a fantastic teacher, or whatever your gift is. And give back a little something, and plan your calendar so there are happy road trips and getaways, or concerts or plays or whatever you love.

I'm going to try doing more of it this year. That is my goal. Less guilt. More creativity, more planning for fun, and a little more giving back. More joy in the journey. More happiness.

Hanging out at Bear Lake....happy times. 

Happy Martin Luther King Day

I have kindergarteners this year. So I wanted to do a little bit of the activities I've done in the past but just make them a little simpler. My Martin Luther King posts from the last few years are HERE and HERE. These little guys did such a good job. I told them some of the stories of the civil rights movement, and nobody thought anything sounded AT ALL FAIR. It is amazing the adults of the time thought things were when 5 and 6 year olds can tell they weren't.

They did a great job writing some Dr. King quotes and phrases for Martin Luther King Day. 

I will put their art and writing up on the bulletin board! It is awesome! 

I can't believe these kiddos are only 5 and 6 years old. 

I told the kids all about how blacks had to ride in the back of the bus, drink out of their own drinking fountains, and be refused service in restaurants. Nobody thought it was fair at all! 

I told them about the fire hoses that were sprayed on people who were marching peacefully with signs because they didn't like the unfairness of it all. They didn't think that was very nice either. 

I told them about the marching people did in large groups holding signs. They wanted to change things for blacks. It wasn't fair the way things were. The key was that the marches were peaceful. Dr. King helped people to dissent without violence. Boy do we need some of Dr. King's influence these days!!! 

So maybe Dr. King day comes at a good time in our country. America needs to feel more unified and peaceful after the recent events in Ferguson and other places in our world. There is so much violence! 

Show that you care......what a great sentiment! 

Dr. King would be proud of these students who really got his message. 

This one kind of resembles Al Sharpton! How did that happen? lol 

I thought this one turned out great too. 

We had a good day learning about a Great American Hero. Dr. King lives on even though he was assassinated. 

Treat people kindly. That is one of his messages and a great take away from today's discussions. 

Happy Martin Luther King Day! 

We will try to follow his example this week and this month and always! 

Martin Luther King day is this coming Monday, January 19th. 

I like this writing paper I found on TPT as a freebie. I like the dotted lines for my little kinders to help them form good habits and proper handwriting. It is HERE at TPT. There were some cute coloring pages also.

Martin Luther King, Jr. art and writing for K-2. We read the poem and wrote phrases from it in Kindergarten today. 

I liked these activities for Dr. King Day too. Check them out HERE at TPT.  Another cute one with an "I Have a Dream" header for a bulletin board or a shared writing is HERE  from TPT. A cute wordsearch is HERE too. Some writing stationery is HERE. All are freebies.

 

Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream quote was a springboard for writing our dreams for the world. 

DIRECTED DRAWING of Dr. King.......INSTRUCTIONS: I do it on the board then turn and walk around to see who needs help. Some kids will have to try the head a few times to get the right shape. The directed drawing I did was easy. Tell the kids to use a brown, black, red and blue crayon only. Tell them to watch you do it first and listen carefully. Then they do what you did and WAIT for you to go on to the next instruction.  Tell them to color in light even strokes using the side of the crayon. 1. First draw a large oval with the brown crayon. Find the middle of the oval and Add a nose that is like 2 small mountains or a capital M with a C on the left and a backwards C on the right. NO top on the nose. 2. Then in between the top of the head and the nose draw in 2 black eyes dark and round, but leave a little circle of white in the very middle. Then draw a half-circle arch above each eye in black. 3. Then above the eyes draw 2 bushy black eyebrows kind of like a caterpillar. 4. Then under the nose draw bushy black mustache like a caterpillar. 5. Then in between the nose and chin we will do a mouth kind of shaped like a rounded-at-the-bottom heart. Color it in light brown with a hint of light red. 6. Then put 2 ears on each side of the head even with the nose and color them in with brown. 7. Then use black and make circular swirls of black hair all around the head like a short afro cut. 8. Then draw a  suit coat with a V neck in black but then color it in with blue, in an even direction. Be sure it is BLUE and not aqua. 9. Inside the v neck draw a red tie kind of diamond shaped. Then draw a small black W right under the chin, so it will look like a white shirt collar. 10. Then add some fireworks shaped like a plus sign and an X in blue and then go over it also in red. 11. Then put the name on top Dr. King. 12.  Older kids can also draw an American flag on a pole.

Martin Luther King was a great American leader. We have so few that really stand out these days don't we. I hope all the kids catch a glimpse of him on T.V. this weekend. Happy Martin Luther King Day!